Prevalence of Moderate to Severe Joint Pain Among Adults With Diagnosed Arthritis: United States, 2023

To estimate the prevalence of moderate to severe joint pain among US adults with arthritis overall and by sociodemographic and health factors. Additionally, to assess progress toward the Healthy People 2030 goal of reducing the percentage of US adults with arthritis reporting moderate to severe joint pain to 52.4%.

This cross-sectional study used National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data to estimate the unadjusted and age-standardized prevalence of moderate to severe joint pain. Differences by sociodemographic and health characteristics and survey year (2019 and 2023) were assessed using t-tests. Data were weighted to account for the NHIS survey methodology.

An estimated 58.5% of US adults with diagnosed arthritis (30.8 million) reported moderate to severe joint pain in 2023 (moderate: 32.4%, 17.1 million; severe: 26.1%, 13.8 million). Some of the largest age-adjusted differences by health status and sociodemographic characteristics were for self-rated health (excellent/very good [45.6%] compared with good [56.6%] and fair/poor [72.9%]), disability status (yes [77.1%], no [53.7%]), reporting depressive disorder symptoms (yes [76.1%], no [55.2%]), reporting anxiety disorder symptoms (yes [73.9%], no [54.0%]), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (yes [72.4%], no [56.9%]), and cancer (yes [71.7%], no [58.1%]). There was no change in age-standardized moderate to severe joint pain between 2019 (56.8%) and 2023 (58.2%; P = 0.46).

More than half of US adults diagnosed with arthritis reported moderate to severe joint pain, with no progress toward the Healthy People 2030 goal from 2019 to 2023. Evidence-based interventions may reduce the prevalence of moderate to severe joint pain among adults with arthritis.